NZFSA Used in Aspartame Propaganda

“The Soil & Health Association
is appalled that Japanese aspartame manufacturer Ajinomoto
is using statements by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority
(NZFSA) in promotional material that supports poor research
to medical professionals,” said spokesperson Steffan
Browning. (a)

“In contrast, Environmental Health
Perspectives (EHP) the peer-reviewed journal of the United
States' National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
has just highlighted the Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology
and Environmental Sciences cancer findings that NZFSA and
Ajinomoto seek to discredit.” (b)

In ‘The Health Care
Professionals Site’ on Ajinomoto’s website, subtitled
‘A resource for you and your patients for facts on
aspartame.’, is the headline ‘The latest news on
aspartame, New Zealand Food Safety Authority Confirms Safety
of Aspartame’ followed by ‘Statement Adds to Large Body
of Research Supporting Sweetener’s Use’. A further spin
on a NZFSA July 5 Press Release then follows.

NZFSA’s
Deputy Chief Executive had been careful in her denigrating
of the important Ramazzini research by saying that the
results “are not consistent with the findings of a large
number of studies over many years which have been evaluated
by leading food safety agencies around the world.”

However the Ajinomoto site NZFSA article says the
Ramazzini Foundation ‘made false claims about the safety
of aspartame.

In contrast when considering the EHP
publication, the prestigious independent Ramazzini
Foundation said a week ago, ”the results of this second
long-term carcinogenicity bioassay not only confirm but also
reinforce our first experimental demonstration of
Aspartame’s multipotential carcinogenicity at a dose level
close to the human ADI. Furthermore, the study demonstrates
that when life-span exposure to APM begins during fetal
life, its carcinogenic effects are
increased.”

“Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP)
is the peer-reviewed journal of the United States' National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. With an impact
factor of 5.86, EHP ranks first among 132 environmental
sciences journals and first among 90 public, environmental,
and occupational health journals. EHP is read in over 190
countries.”

“The further spin of NZFSA’s misleading
statements by aspartame manufacturer Ajinomoto to, ‘adds
to large body of research,’ and ‘NZFSA Confirms
Safety….’ show how NZFSA’s own July 5 statement
including, ‘there is an extensive body of evidence that
tells us it is a safe product,’ is self perpetuating
nonsense when it relies on industry led pap itself,” said
Browning. “NZFSA is itself becoming part of its own
theoretical evidence.”

“NZFSA continues to claim that
aspartame is one of the most studied substances in the
world, yet conveniently brushes aside the fact that while
all industry-funded studies do not show a problem, the
overwhelming majority of independent studies do.”

“Of 166 studies felt to have relevance for questions
of human safety, 74 had Nutrasweet (an aspartame brand)
industry related funding and 92 were independently funded.
One hundred percent of the industry funded research attested
to aspartame's safety, whereas 92% of the independently
funded research identified a problem.”

“In fact in
July the NZFSA was again supporting the manufacturers of the
toxic sweetener by trying to dumb down the important
independent research at the same time as Wellingtonian Abby
Cormack’s well publicised poisoning with aspartame from
sugar free chewing gum.”

“Following publicity of her
case and the Soil & Health supported tour with American
anti-aspartame lobbyist Betty Martini, Abby Cormack has been
collecting case studies of other New Zealanders who have
made remarkable recoveries from debilitating conditions
since stopping aspartame use. Yet NZFSA remains in denial
for the sake of industry.”

“NZFSA goes further and
suggests that aspartame is better for the health of the
obese, which again is a fallacy. It is time that NZFSA and
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) stopped relying
on industry led science or those other international
agencies following the same course, look at the independent
science and put New Zealanders health first. There are
effective safer natural products such as
stevia.”

“Soil & Health maintains its call for
immediate removal of aspartame from schools as is happening
in other parts of the world where the harm of aspartame is
recognised,” said Browning, “Urgent warning labelling
for pregnant women and children could also precede the
sweeteners total market recall.”“Soil & Health has a
motto of Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, Healthy People, and
promotes a diet free from synthetic
additives.”

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